When Do GTA 6 Reviews Come Out? The Leaked Embargo Time

Short answer: Rockstar hasn’t set a public date yet, but a leak from a forum poster with a good track record says GTA 6 reviews drop on Wednesday, November 18, 2026, between 6 and 7 a.m. ET, one day before launch. A second batch of outlets would follow at 12:01 a.m. ET on November 19. That’s the same day-before pattern Rockstar used for its last two games.

The leaked GTA 6 embargo time

The date comes from BlackBate, a ResetEra member who has called several announcements correctly since 2021. On October 23, they posted that the embargo ends November 18 and that Metacritic scores should go live between 12:01 and 1:01 p.m. CET. Per the same post, some sites and YouTube channels are held until launch day.

Here’s what that means in the US. Daylight saving time ends November 1, so these are standard times.

The status is Rumor: one forum source, relayed by Notebookcheck, with no word from Rockstar or Take-Two. Still, it fits Rockstar’s day-before pattern, and the early-morning slot is close to Red Dead Redemption 2’s, whose reviews went up at 4:01 a.m. PT (7:01 a.m. ET).

Why some reviews wait until launch

Nobody outside Rockstar knows why part of the press would be held back. Notebookcheck floats two theories: Rockstar wants written reviews out first to set the critical consensus, with video reviews, which risk spoiling the story, following later. Or it simply favors the biggest outlets.

Notice the second timestamp. Per PlayStation Store listings, GTA 6 unlocks in the US at midnight ET on November 19, so that held-back wave would land almost exactly as the game goes live. We break down every time zone in our GTA 6 unlock times guide.

When review copies go out

Insider Gaming first reported that reviews would publish before November 19; Notebookcheck says the article has since been deleted. Insider NateTheHate followed up on ResetEra: copies go out before the end of October. BlackBate adds that the digital PS5 and Xbox codes hadn’t shipped as of October 23, and points to the week of October 26 or early November.

That’s a big shift from an earlier rumor, in which a Brazilian journalist claimed Rockstar would review the game at a secret location to stop leaks. Sending codes is riskier, but one detail helps Rockstar: the boxed edition holds a download code, not a disc. There’s no retail disc to slip out early, the way Marvel’s Wolverine leaked from a PS5 disc ahead of its release this year.

What Rockstar did with GTA V and RDR2

Rockstar’s track record is the best reason to believe the leak. For its last two releases, it let reviews out exactly one day early.

GTA V’s embargo day was a wall of 9s and 10s: Edge gave it a 10, Game Informer a 9.75, GameSpot a 9. The outlier was The Escapist at 3.5 out of 5. Expect the same split on day one: a near-unanimous top tier, then a handful of contrarian takes that get shared far more than the rest.

Why Take-Two still cares about scores

With pre-orders where they are, you could argue reviews barely matter for GTA VI. Take-Two disagrees. “Rockstar’s scores are typically in the mid-90s, sometimes high 90s,” CEO Strauss Zelnick told The Game Business. “Not many games can say that.” He added that critical reception matters today as much as it did in the past.

Not everyone expects a repeat. Dan Dawkins, content director at Future, told the same outlet a 97 will be harder to hit in 2026. Insider Gaming’s podcast hosts went further and predicted many scores in the 83 to 87 range. And per ESA data cited by The Game Business, only 11% of US players always check professional reviews before buying a game, while 42% sometimes do.

What it means if you pre-ordered

If the leak holds, the reviews arrive about 18 hours before the US unlock. Preloading opens November 12 for digital pre-orders and boxed copies, so by review morning the game should already be on your drive, locked. That leaves a full day of verdicts, clips and spoiler-laden headlines.

Our advice: read one or two written reviews on the morning of November 18, then mute “GTA 6” on social media until you’ve played. For everything else to sort out before launch, see how to prepare for GTA 6, our GTA 6 release date page and the pre-order guide.